Seventeen
by phoenixxtearss
Summary: She wished she could've freezed time at seventeen. Angst! Major character death!


**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Miraculous Ladybug_

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**Seventeen**

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She wished she could've freezed time at seventeen.

The wind blew past her viciously as she fell ever closer to the ground that would let her succumb to the darkness that crawled at the edges of her mind.

Time slowed as she fell, letting her see everything in clear clarity. Admire the broken bricks of buildings that surrounded her. Mourn for the lives lost that waited on the ground, blood pooling in the cracks of the concrete.

Wish for time to freeze when she was seventeen as she stared into his utterly beautiful eyes.

His screeched "NO!" echoed in her ears as she tumbled closer to the ground.

_"Don't let me go." _She had whispered in the crisp November evening when they were seventeen, watching Paris atop the Eiffel Tower.

_"Never, milady." _He had vowed softly as he pulled her even closer.

When they seventeen, they felt like they were on top of the world. Invincible. They were the King and Queen of their world and they revelled in it. A night hadn't passed when they weren't chasing each other atop the roofs of Paris, their giggles and squeals their own sweet melody.

A melody that finished when they returned to school, ready to become eighteen - be an adult. And that was when everything took a turn for the worse.

Hawkmoth seemed to become desperate and akumas were released on after another - fighting three akumas a day became the norm for the two heroes. Carapace and Rena Rouge had permanent hold of their Miraculous, where Queen Bee was called on as needed.

And slowly but surely, Paris fell to pieces around them.

The Eiffel Tower fell first.

And so did everything that made her hold back.

The Eiffel Tower was their sanctuary - the place where they could escape being Ladybug and Chat Noir, of having the weight of the world on their shoulders, escape from their civilian lives and become Milady and Mon Chaton. Where they could act their age in suits that provided them the ability to save Paris time and time again.

And everything seemed to crumble around her once more when a akuma _ripped _her earrings away from her, revealing her identity to Paris, her friends and family and most importantly, _Chat._

She felt rage swirling in her gut when she realised she was deprived of having the _choice _of taking the mask away in front of him.

The de-evilised akuma had to be sent to hospital after the battle was finished.

Years passed by and she shed the skin - _she had to let go _\- of everything that made her sweet and selfless Marinette Dupain-Cheng and become Ladybug, the warrior who never faltered - who had ice instead of a heart.

The red of her suit no longer became associated with passion and love - it became associated with _blood_. The black spots on her suit no longer represented the night - a time of rest and peace - but the darkness that you would succumb to if you faced her. Her eyes were no longer associated with bluebells - but hard, unbreakable ice.

As the years passed, Hawkmoth grew more powerful and so did his akumas. They became more wicked, ruthless and brutal.

So they did too.

There were no puns, no flirting, no jokes as they aged more than their physical age.

When she looked into his eyes, she never saw a man in his early-twenties dwelling in them - instead, a cold man somewhere in his nineties who had fought in a war that hadn't ended stared back at her.

Smiles were rarely seen by anyone - even when they were in the company of each other.

Their time together was usually spent huddled together in silence as they thought of another way to defeat Hawkmoth.

They never worked.

And neither did their school lives.

After they graduated, they never went to university - there were too many akumas to face and defeat for them to have the time to attend university. They would've failed before the first term was over.

Wrath was an old friend that simmered in her gut in every second of every day - wrath that Hawkmoth had deprived them of a life, of an education, of the right to be human and normal and _them._

She would've ripped the Miraculous out of Hawkmoth's slimy grip if she ever had the chance - but, she wouldn't. Not now. She never would.

And he realised that too as his beautiful lush eyes gathered tears, his whole face etched with extreme anguish as he fell with her, trying to save her.

But he never would, she couldn't even save herself. Her yoyo had been stolen from her by the akuma before she fell off the skyscraper, the consequence of taking a hit for him instead of the other way around.

She gazed even deeper into his eyes and suddenly she wasn't where she was supposed to me.

* * *

_Paris glittered in the night, bright and alive. The two teenagers clothed in suits looked down on the city of love - their eyes full of hope and arrogance that would be ripped away from them before they could stop him. _

_The girl clothed in a spandex suit of scarlet, decorated with black spots and a red-and-black spotted mask concealed her identity from everyone - even the cat-themed teenager say beside her - sighed before turning to the boy. _

_"Mon Chaton?" She called softly._

_The boy turned to her, tilting his head questioningly. _

_"Catch me." _

_"Milady?" He asked intrigued, his brows furrowing. _

_"Catch me when I fall. Find me when I'm lost. Promise me." She breathed. _

_"I promise, Milady. I vow to catch you when you fall, to find you when you're lost. I will always be by your side." His warm hand curled around hers and they smiled at each other, the silence fizzing with every emotion that raced through them._

_"Race you to Notre Dame." She suddenly challenged, her bluebell eyes glittering in the glow of the moon._

_"You're on, Milady." _

_Their laughs and joyous shouts echoed around Paris._

* * *

She wanted to go back to being seventeen - where she was wild and free, naïve and gullible, unburdened by the weight that currently resided on her shoulders.

But she knew that would never be possible, not as her hand brushed his, when she hit the ground with an earth-shaking _BOOM! _

She didn't feel pain, only the darkness quickly creeping up on her. Her eyelids slid close and she whispered her very last words with her very last breath. "I'm sorry."

* * *

The great Ladybug, the wonderful Marinette Dupain-Cheng, was gone. Never to return, never to breathe, never to love, never to laugh, never to cry.

Paris mourned her as they buried her body where the Eiffel Tower once resided.

A man walked up to her grave, clothed in black that he would never take off, because he would never stop mourning her, never stop fighting for her. The night breeze was crisp as he kneeled before the grave. A tear dripped down his cheek as he remembered that night was her favourite time of day.

He drew in a shaky breath and withdrew a brilliant crimson rose and set it gently on top of the grave, along with the lucky charm bracelet all those years ago.

He whispered eight words for his goodbye to the girl and the woman and the warrior that had brought light to his darkened life.

"You had nothing to be sorry for, Milady."

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_AN: Well, what do you think? _

_Sorry it angsty, this idea just hit me._

_Bye!_


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